The River of No Return
by Sheila Wolfe
Summary: Mysterious disappearances lead Sam and Dean to an investigation in Salmon, Idaho. The only problem is they have no idea what they are up against or why a strange girl, Chelsea Faulkner, keeps appearing where ever they go.
1. Prologue

Hey guys! Sheila Wolfe here! Guess what my new obsession is? Don't worry, I'm working on my other stories as this is being uploaded but this one I've been putting off for a while. I'll update again soon so please be patient? ^~^; So this story takes place in Season 1 between episodes 8 (Bugs) and 9 (Home). As always, hope you enjoy, reviews are always welcome, and lots of love until next time! 3**  
**

~ Sheila Wolfe ^~^

* * *

**Prologue**

**…**

_Previously on Supernatural…_

22 years ago…

"Take your brother outside as fast as you can! Go!

Their mother mysteriously died. Now two brothers…

"Dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days."

Are on a quest for answers.

"This is dad's book. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know; saving people, hunting things. The family business."

**…**

-Salmon-Challis National Forest, Idaho-

"You guys sure we should be out here?" Carly fretted, glancing at the surrounding forest. It was dark and eerie, making the girl shiver. From across the fire, her friends smirked.

"Jeez Carly, stop worrying," the other girl laughed.

"Brenda's right," Scott added. "Relax. Have a beer." She shook her head when he offered her a can. Their other friend Lee, though, eagerly snatched it for himself.

"Whatcha so scared of, Carly?" he teased, taking a swig of his drink. "This isn't your first time out here."

"Maybe it's all the disappearances," Darrell suggested, roasting a marshmallow for his smore.

"What disappearances?" Brenda asked, snuggling closer to Scott.

"Didn't you hear? Like four people have gone missing out here in the past month."

"It's probably just a bear. Or a mountain lion," Lee shrugged.

"Maybe it's a crazy hermit killing off anyone who come into his woods," Scott grinned ominously, earning a smack from his girlfriend.

Carly snorted. "That was the movie we watched last week."

"Hey, most scary stories are based on actual events," Darrell added.

"Yeah, I'll remember that when the ghosts want to drain my blood to summon a demon or something," Brenda rolled her eyes.

"Speaking of drain." Lee jumped to his feet, taking a quick stretch and walking out of the circle. "I gotta leak the lizard."

Carly shook her head. "Way too much info, dude."

"Don't let the crazy hermit get you!" Scott called as the other teen disappeared through the trees.

"But seriously guys," Carly sighed anxiously. "What if there is something out here?"

"We'll be fine. Nothing's out there. Besides, no animals gonna get near us when we have a fire." Scott's words were immediately contradicted by a sound in the distance. It was a cross between a low wail and a woman's shriek.

The group jumped to their feet and turned towards the sound.

"What was that?" Brenda whispered, clinging to Scott's arm for support. Carly grabbed one of the iron fire prodders and held it aloft, ready to face whatever was hiding.

"Lee is that you? Not cool dude!" Darrell shouted. He didn't receive an answer. After a second he tried again. "Seriously, man, not funny anymore! Cut it out!"

The bushes in front of them rustled loudly before someone dashed out of them and barreled into the campsite. It wasn't Lee, though.

Instead, a middle aged man stumbled into the clearing, carrying a worn out backpack and a loaded shotgun. The teens screamed in terror. At once, the man lowered his gun and gestured to the fire.

"Put that out," he panted gruffly, strolling towards the group.

"What?" Scott asked dumbly, brain still slow from the startle.

"I said PUT OUT THAT FIRE!" the man shouted. Before anyone could properly respond, he had already rushed to the flames to stomp them out himself.

"Wait a second! Who are you? What are you doing?" Carly screeched as the last of the campfire was reduced to smoldering embers under his boots.

"There's no time to explain. You kids need to get out of here. Now. It's not safe."

"What are you talking abo-?" Darrell was cut off by another eerie cry from the woods. It sounded closer…and angrier.

The stranger watched the trees with worried eyes and raised his weapon again. "You've got to go. Take the trail and get as far away as you can. Don't stop until you're out of the woods and don't turn back."

"We can't just leave! Our friend is still out there!" Carly argued.

The man glared at them over his shoulder. "I'll do what I can for your friend but you need to get out of here NOW!"

There was another scream closer than ever. Pumping the gun, the stranger barely aimed before firing into the trees. A roar of pain and fury shook the leaves and finally convinced the teens to leave.

Turning on their heels, the four took off into the trees, searching for the trail that had led them into the forest.

"Come on guys! This way!" Scott called from ahead. Another blast echoed behind them before falling silent.

"You think that guy's okay?" Brenda yelled.

"He has a gun. He can take care of himself!" Carly answered, still grasping the fire poker.

"We'll call for help as soon as we get back to the car," Darrell added from behind her.

The three slowed to a stop, gasping for breath and clutching their sides.

"Where…did…Scott…go?" Carly panted.

Brenda spun around. "He wouldn't…leave us…would he?"

"No way. He probably just found a path. It should be around here somewh-" Darrell suddenly fell silent and the girls turned to glance at him. Where he had been standing just seconds before, there only sat an abandoned shoe.

"Darrell!" Brenda shrieked. The unearthly howl answered from all around them.

"Run!" Carly snagged Brenda's hand and the two dashed through the trees, leaping over bushes and ducking under low tree branches.

"Wait wait wait!" Brenda screeched to a halt. Backtracking a few feet, she picked up a piece of cloth from the ground. "This is Scott's shirt! He's around here!" Seeing another, she snagged it and looked around for more, collecting bits here and there back the way they had come.

"Brenda wait! The guy said not to go back! We have to go get help!"

"But what if that thing got him! We have to help! Scott please! Answer me baby!" Following another scrap around the trunk of a tree, her pleas were silenced abruptly and a chill went through Carly.

"Brenda?" she called anxiously. She jumped when a something tumbled from behind the tree and rolled to a stop in front of her. In the moonlight, she could just make out the fear frozen on the features of her friend's disembodied head.

Staring at it glassy eyes, she stumbled back and screamed.

**…**

_Supernatural_


	2. I

**I**

-Salmon, Idaho-

-Two Days Later-

The Salmon County Hospital was a rush of activity. Nurses bustled between rooms, tending to patients and directing visitors. Weaving through the crowd, two dark suited men followed the hanging signs towards Wing C.

Down the hall, a couple of park rangers were conversing with an agitated doctor. The suits quickly walked over to join their group, flashing federal badges in response to the curious glances.

"I'm Special Agent Watts," the shorter one introduced, gesturing to his companion before pocketing his ID. "My partner, Special Agent Lee."

"Ranger Olsen," the bald official returned. "This is Ranger Hanley and Dr. Malcolm."

"So you're the one taking care of the girl found in the woods?" Agent Lee asked the older man.

Dr. Malcolm nodded, gesturing to the room labeled 12. "Yes; Carly Winters. There was no physical harm, other than dehydration and a few cuts and bruises, but the poor girl was scared out of her wits when they brought her in this morning. We just got her talking sense about an hour ago."

Agent Watts turned his attention to the rangers. "And you two have already questioned her?"

"We tried," Ranger Hanson huffed. "She just kept saying 'it' got her friends."

The agent raised his eyebrow inquisitively. "Did she say what 'it' was?"

Hanson sighed wearily. "Beats me, she never saw the damn thing. Just heard some sort of screeching noise. We think it's probably an animal; some of those predators more to fast to see if you aren't paying attention, especially at night.

"What about the people she was with? Have they been found?"

"No, not yet. One of our boys found their campsite but there's no sign of any animal attack. The kids probably got spooked, ran off, and got lost in the dark. We'll probably find the others like we found Carly there pretty soon."

"Doctor, is it already if we question Carly ourselves?" Agent Lee broke in, his attention focused on room 12. "Just for a few minutes. We won't be long."

Malcolm thought it over a moment. "I suppose so. Just try not to get her too excited. She's visiting with a friend right now but I'm sure they won't be too much longer." Lee gave a thankful nod before following the physician towards Carly's room.

Meanwhile, the younger ranger, looking quite offended, interjected heatedly with the remaining agent, "Now hold on just a minute. We already questioned the girl. Whatever questions you have, I'm sure we can answer for her."

"Investigation protocol," Watts shrugged. "Just have to make sure we get all the facts straight."

"Since when have animal attacks been considered material for a Federal case anyways?" Hanson challenged.

Jade green eyes regarded him irritably. "Well you're not sure if it _is _animal attacks, now are you? Besides, half a dozen campers go missing in a month and you've only managed to find one person so far? Why don't you go make yourself useful and get me a coffee and leave this to the professionals, eh rookie?"

Hanson was about to retort but quickly shut his mouth after a warning glance from his partner. With a huff, the young man replaced his hat and stomped out of the wing. Trying to ignore the Agent's smug wink and a request for, "cream and two sugars!"

…

Meanwhile, the other 'Agent' was standing outside Carly's room. Through the small window, he could see her talking to another teenage girl with short, reddish hair.

"Still visiting?" his 'partner' asked, joining him as he sipped at a hot cup of coffee. "Gah this stuff tastes terrible. Guess what they say about hospital food is true, huh Sam?"

"Can we focus, Dean?" the taller man groaned.

"Alright, alright. Let's just break up the little party and be on our way then." Rapping quickly on the door, Dean cracked it open and poked his head inside. "Hey, sorry to interrupt but we needed to have a quick word with Carly."

"Uh, rude much," the redhead muttered. Giving her friend a pat on the arm, she shrugged her coat on and headed for the door. "Get well soon, Carly."

"Thank you," the other girl called. The visitor quickly slipped past the two men and out of the room with an annoyed grimace.

"Nice of your friend to come and visit," Dean commented, taking a seat next to the bed.

"Oh I just met her. She's one of the agents' daughters. She just came in here to keep me company while they were talking. Nice girl, though."

Dean shot a questioning look to his brother. Sam nodded and slipped out the door, scanning the wing for the departed visitor.

"I'm Special Agent Watts from the FBI," Dean started, following his usual routine. "I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about the night you and your friends went camping."

"I already told the Rangers," she complained. "They didn't believe me."

"I'll believe you, alright?" Dean gave her his best reassuring smile and leaned forward in his char. "Just tell me what you told them and don't be afraid to leave anything out."

The girl sighed wearily. "We just went camping right off the trail. We've done it plenty of times before. Everyone was just hanging out when we heard this weird screeching noise. Suddenly this guy burst into our camp with a gun and told us to run."

"He chased you out of the camp with a gun?" Dean asked puzzled.

Carly shook her head. "No he put out our fire and told us to run from something else. I think it was chasing him. He was shooting at it when we ran for the trail."

"Do you remember what he looked like?"

"Well it was really dark." She struggled to remember something. "Uh kind of a short-ish guy, not to fat but not really skinny either. He was maybe like thirty-five or forty with dark hair and a bit of a beard. He was wearing some old hunting clothes and he had a shotgun."

"What about the thing chasing him? Did you see it too?"

She shook her head again. "I never saw it. It was like it was invisible or something. It followed us down the trail. It got my friends." She was on the verge of tears.

Dean handed her a tissue awkwardly from the bedside table. "It's okay. We'll find them and bring them back."

"No you don't get it!" she cried, openly sobbing now. "They're dead! It cut off Brenda's head!"

Dean, unsure what else to do, patted her shoulder sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Carly." She nodded but didn't say anything more. With one last pat, the 'Agent' retreat from the room.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Sam asked, joining him outside the door.

"Not bad. She never saw the thing but I don't think it's an animal attack unless Smokey the Bear's started decapitating people."

"Yikes," Sam grimaced. "Anything else?"

"Well some guy showed up at their camp and told them to run when the thing was chasing him. No one's mentioned anyone else going missing, though. What about that girl Carly was talking with?"

"I lost her in the crowd," Sam sighed. "Carly said she was one of the Rangers' daughters, right?"

"Right," Dean agreed.

"Well I asked Ranger Olsen about her and _she_ told _him_ that she was an old friend of Carly's come to visit."

"So we've got a hiker snatcher in the woods, an old hunter playing follow the leader with it and a girl with crossed stories visiting the witness?"

"Not making any sense to me," Sam shrugged.

Dean groaned. "Let's just get to the trailhead and see what we can figure out there." He started to take another sip of his coffee but thought better of it and tossed in a nearby trashcan. "And can we _please_ get some real food on the way?"


End file.
